Israel Accepts New 72-Hour Cease-Fire In Gaza

A Palestinian boy runs on the rubble of damaged graves at a cemetery hit by an Israeli strike in Gaza Cita, on Sunday.

Lefteris PitarakisAP

Originally published on August 10, 2014 10:34 am

Updated at 1:40 p.m. ET.

Israeli officials have confirmed a new three-day cease-fire with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, a move that clears the way for a resumption on talks to end the weekslong conflict.

Confirmation on the temporary truce comes from a senior Israeli government official who spoke with NPR and comes amid reports of explosions continuing in Gaza. The agreement was set to take effect from midnight Israeli time (5 p.m. ET). It follows by hours remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he's prepared for a protracted military operation in Gaza. He had ruled out any return to truce talks unless Hamas rocket attacks ceased.

Earlier, a Hamas representative at the Cairo talks said the cease-fire proposal was being "studied."

According to NPR's Jackie Northam, reporting from Jerusalem:

"Many hoped that could be achieved through peace negotiations in Cairo. But Israel walked away from the indirect talks shortly after the three-day ceasefire collapsed, saying it would not negotiate under fire.

"The Palestinian negotiation team has remained, but it is now threatening to leave Cairo if the Israelis don't return. In the meantime, the fighting continues. Israel says Hamas has launched more than 100 rockets from Gaza to southern Israel over the weekend. The Israeli military says it's launched some 120 airstrikes."

Reuters, citing medics, says "Israeli airstrikes and shelling killed three Palestinians in Gaza on Sunday, including a boy of 14 and a woman ... in a third day of renewed fighting that has jeopardized international efforts to end a more than month-old conflict."